Mail-bag catching and delivering mechanism.



No. 856,407. PATBNTED JUNE 11, 1907.

' J. T. JONES.

MAIL BAG CATGHING AND DELIVERING MECHANISM.

APPLIOATION FILED APR.L9.1907- mums-sum 1.

L/zrnar 71/271 1n: NoRRls Psrsns co., WASHINGION. z: c

. No. 856,407. PATENTED JUNE 11, 1907.

J. T. JONES.

MAIL BAG GATGHING AND DELIVERING MECHANISM.

APPLIUATION FILED APB.19.1907.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

JAMES T. JONES, OF COLUMBUS, OHIO.

MAIL-BAG CATCHING AND DELIVERING MECHANISM- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 11, 1907.

Application filed April 19,1907. Serial No- 869,0'73.

T (LZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, J AMES T. J ONES, a citizen of the United States, residing at Columbus, in the county of Franklin and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail-Bag Catching and Delivering Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a mail bag catching and delivering mechanism for use upon railway cars and has for its object the provision of a device of this character adapted to catch a mail bag at a station and swing it into the mail car and also adapted to de liver a mail bag at the station.

It is a well known fact that many trainmen have been killed by the mail bag sup porting posts or arms, usually located alongside of the railroad track. It is also a well known fact that much mail matter is destroyed every year by the mail bags falling beneath the train wheels when they are thrown from the mail car.

It is the object therefore of the present invention to not only provide a device that will receive the mail bag ,at the station, but

will hold the mail bag after said mail bag has been dropped therein.

It is a further object of the invention to locate the mail bag supporting devices within a very short distance of the ground, thereby doing away with the usual mail bag supporting posts.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the detailed description which now follows.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation of the devices forming the present invention and showing them in the positions they occupy with relation to a railway mail car, Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section upon line ac-a3 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 3 is a plan view of the swinging arm hereinafter described, and, Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical section through the upper portion of a fixed shaft hereinafter described.

Like numerals designate corresponding parts in all of the figures of the drawing.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 5 designates the body of an ordinary railway mail car and the numeralfi designates the doorway thereof. A shaft 7 which is provided with a base 8 is fixedly mounted just Within the doorway of the car and has a Spline or key 9 extending there-along throughout the major portion of its length. At its upper end this shaft is reduced as at 10 and is secured to a plate 11 by a screw 12. A hollow head 13 is also fixed upon said. shaft. ltotatably mounted upon the reduced portion 10 of the shaft is a cup-like member 14, the upper edges of which are grooved as at 15 for the reception of ball bearings 16, said bearings serving to reduce the friction between the head 13 and the cup-like member 14. Disposed within the cup-like member 14 is a coiled spring 17 one end of which is secured to apin 18 which is carried by the head 13 and the opposite end of which is secured to an L-shaped piece 19 which is secured to the cup-like member 14 by a screw 20. The cup-like member 14 carries cars 21 between which a lever 22 is pivoted. The upper end of this lever is adapted to enter a notch 23 formed in the head 13 to servea purpose which will be hereinafter set forth. A flat spring 2 1 normally tends to throw the upper end of the lever into this notch.

Slidably disposed upon the shaft 7 is a sleeve 25, said sleeve having a key-way 26 formed therein which is adapted to receive the key or spline 9. The sleeve passes through the hub 27 of an arm 28 and is se cured to said hub by a set screw 29. Aring 30.

which is located between the upper face of the hub 27 and the lower face of a hub 31 which is carried by the sleeve 25 is provided with anti-friction bearings 32 to permit it to have free rotation upon the sleeve 25. This ring is provided with a projecting lug this lug a cable or cord 34 is secured. This cord passes over pulleys illustrated in dotted lines at 35 in Fig. 1 and has secured to its opposite end a weight 36.

The base piece 8 is provided with a pair of upstanding lugs 37. Only one of these lugs has been illustrated (see Fig. 2), but it is to be understood that when the arm 28 descends to its lowermost position as hereinafter described, it lies between these lugs. Pi'voted at 38 to the outer portion of the arm 28 is a yoke 39. A rod 41-0 is slidably disposed in ears 11 which are carried by the arm 28 and a spring 42 bears between one of the ears 4]. and a pin 43 carried by the rod 42, said spring serving to hold the beveled end 44.- of said rod into engagement with a locking recess 45 formed in the piece 8. A'link 46 connects the rod40 and the yoke 39. Secured to the outer end of the arm 28 is a depending bracket 47 of inverted U-shape. This bracket com- 33 and to prises a pair of side plates 48 and pivoted to an extension 49 of these side plates is a point-- ed head 50. A link 51 is pivoted to this head and to a movable Web 52, said Web being pivoted in turn at 53 between the side plates 48.

The end 54 of this web is adapted to strike the yoke 46 to serve a purpose which will be hereinafter described. Pivoted to a lug 55 which. is carried by the side plates 48 is a block 56. A second block 57 is pivoted at 58 to an extension 59 of the block 56 and this latter block carries a pin 60 which travels in a slot 61 of the web 52.

A box-like receptacle 62 is located alongside of the track 63 and below the surface of the ground. Longitudinally extending rods 64 which carry a plurality of L-shaped fingers 65 are journaled in this box. l/Veights 66 are secured upon these rods by keys 67, said weights extending through openings 68 formed in the side walls of the box 62. Pivoted in upstanding ears 69 are vertical standards 7 O and pivoted in turn in these standards are levers '71, it being-understoodthat the standards 70 are bifurcated for the reception of these levers. Hooks 72 are mounted to turn upon pins 73 carried by the upper ends of these rods, said rods being provided with enlarged portions 74 which form bean ings for these hooks. Levers 75 are pivoted at 76 and have weights 77 secured to their outer ends. The inner ends of these levers are pivoted at 78 topins 7 9, said pins being adapted to enter recesses 80 formed in the lower ends of the standard 70 to lock said. standards in a vertical position.

The operation of the device is as follows: When the train gets within the proper distance of the station at which a mail bag is to be delivered and from which a mail bag is to be taken, the mail clerk hangs a mail bag in the position illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. In other words, the central portion of the mail bag rests upon the block 56, while the block 57 holdsthe mail bag in position, the under side of the block 57 being cutout to surround the central portion of the mail bag. It is to be understood that while this is being done, the arm 28 and the parts carried thereby are held in an elevated position under the influence of the weight 36 and that these parts lie within the car where ready access may be had to them. Before the train reaches the station, the mail bag to be caught is placed in the position illustrated in full lines in Fig. 1. and in dotted lines in Fig. 2, the end of this mail bag resting behind the hooks 73 and upon the tops of the rods 71. The side members or the bifurcated portions of the standards 70 between which the levers 71 play, are resilient and carry heads 81, said heads h'ictionally'gripping the sides of the rods 71 to hold them in a vertical position. After the mail bag has been placed in position the arm 28 is swung around until it lies in the position illustrated in full lines in Figs. 1 and 2. This swinging movement of the arm 28 around the shaft 7, takes place as will be readily understood above the joint at which the key 9 ends and this swinging movement is readily possible since these parts'are for rotation with relation to the ring 30. hen the arm 28 is swung to the position mentioned, the upper end of the lever 22 snaps into the recess 23 under the influence of the spring 24. The operator now lifts the counterbalancing weight 36, the ring 30 and the arm 28 and the parts carried thereby descend, the spline 9 entering the keyway 26 to prevent the arm from turning with relation to the shaft. The arm 28 descends until it rests between the lugs 37 and is thereby held at right angles to the car. When this arm reaches this latter position, the rod 40 snaps into the locking recess 45 to prevent the weight from elevating these parts when the operator releases the weight.

It is to be understood that when the arm has swung around from the dotted line position illustrated in Fig. 2 at which time the arm lies up against the side of the car, to the "full line position illustrated in said figure, the cup-like member 14 is being rotated, for at this time a lug 82 carried by the hub 31 of the sleeve 25, rests between the lugs 21 of the member 14 and causes said member to turn and during this turning movement, the spring 17 is being placed under tension. After the downward movement of the sleeve 25 and the parts secured thereto, this cuplike member 14 will still be held in the position to which it has been moved, by virtue of the "fact that the upper end of the lever 22 rests in the locking notch 23.

When during the onward movement of the car, the head 50 passes beneath the mail bag 83, said mail bag is thrown over upon the link 21. This causes the head 50 to fly up to the position illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 2. This movement of the head 50 throws the web 52 rear'wardly and this movement of the web when the end of the slot 61 strikes against the pin 60, throws the blocks 57 and 56 to the position illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 2 and thereby'dumps the mail bag from between said blocks. The mail bag carried by the car has now been dumped, and the mail bag located at the station has now been caught. The movement of the web 52 causes the upper portion 54 of the web to strikeagainst the yoke 39 and, swing said yoke upon the pivot 38, thereby causing the link 46 to withdraw the locking rod 40 from engagement with the notch 45. The weight thereupon immediately causes the arm 28 and the newly caught mail bag to travel upwardly until the hub of the arm 28 j ournale d passes from the spline and the lug 82 enters between the lugs 21 and strikes against the tail of the lever 22 to throw said lever out of the locking notch 23. This leaves the spring free to swing the arm around inside of the car carrying the mail bag with it. The mail bag that is thrown from between the blocks 57 and 56, lands in the box 62 and strikes upon the fingers 65. I/Vhen the mail bag strikes upon the fingers 65, the portions 65 of these fingers are moved over above the mail bag to prevent the mail bag from re-bounding and falling beneath the wheels of the train. The weight of the mail bag throws the weights 66 upwardly and they strike against the weights 77. I/Vhen the head 50 first engages the mail bag 83, the hooks and the lever 71 are thrown over to the position illus trated in dotted lines in Fig. 1. The elevation of the weights 77 withdraws the pins 79 from the recesses 80 of the standards 70 and said standards fall over into a substantially horizontal plane, where they will be out of the way and in such position that there will be no dan er of passengers or train-men being injured thereby.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that the actual catching and delivering of the mail bags is an entirely automatic proceeding. There is no danger therefore of the mail clerk being injured. This device is arranged to catch a mail bag from a point close to the ground, elevate the mail bag to the proper height and then swing it bodily inside of the car.

while the elements shown and described are well adapted to serve the purposes for which they are intended, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise construction set forth, but includes within its purview such changes as may be made within the scope of the appended claims.

That I claim, is:

1. In a device of the character described, the combination with a mail bag catching mechanism, of automatic means for bodily elevating said mechanism, and automatic means for swinging said mechanism inside of a car when it reaches its upper limit of move ment.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination with a fixed shaft, of a mail bag catching mechanism mounted for vertical bodily movement upon said shaft, means for holding said mechanism in a rigid position outside of the car, means for releas ing said mechanism when a mail bag is caught, means for elevating said mechanism when released, and means for swinging said mechanism bodily through a car door.

3. In a device of the character described,

the combination with a mail bag catching mechanism, of automatic means for bodily elevating said mechanism, automatic means for swinging said mechanism inside of a car when it reaches its upper limit of movement, and a trap located alongside of the track and adapted to receive a mail bag from the car.

4. In a device of the character described, the combination with a fixed shaft, of a mail bag catching mechanism mounted for vertical bodily movement upon said shaft, means for holding said mechanism in a rigid position outside of the car, means for releasing said mechanism when a mail bag is caught, means for elevating said mechanism when released, means for swinging said mechanism bodily through a car door, and a trap located alongside of the track and adapted to receive and retain a mail bag, said trap comprising retaining members which are actuated by the weight of the mail bag.

5. In a device of the character described, the combination with a car, of a vertical shaft located adjacent the car door, an arm mounted to travel vertically upon said shaft, means for locking said arm in its lowermost position, mail bag catching and retaining members carried by said arm, said locking mechanism being actuated by the mail bag catching mechanism, means normally tending to elevate said arm, and means for automatically swinging said arm bodily through the door ofthe car and about said shaft when said arm reaches its upper limit of movement.

6. In a device of the character described, the combination with a car, of a fixed shaft located adjacent the car door, an arm mounted to travel vertically upon said shaft, locking mechanism for locking said arm in its lowermost position, mail bag catching and retaining members mounted upon the outer end of the arm, said locking mechanism being controlled by the movement of said mail bag catching members, a rotative member mounted at the upper end of the shaft, a spring normally tending to rotate said member, a latch for holding said member against rotation, means for releasing said latch when the arm reaches its upper limit of movement, and means for causing said arm to turn with said rotative member.

In testimony whereof I afiiX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES T. JONES. I/Vitnesses:

FRANK G. CAMPBELL, A. L. PnnLPs. 

